On July 24, 1915, thousands of eager and excited people lined up along the Chicago River to board the S.S. Eastland, for Western Electric’s annual company picnic.
But the Eastland would never leave its dock. Instead, leaving a heartbreaking mark in Chicago’s history.
“When the ship began to rollover, she said she remembers the deck chairs slipping out from them, the picnic basket when flying and all of the sudden there were so much chaos,” Barbara Decker Wachholz said, the co-founder of the Eastland Disaster Historical Society and granddaughter of a survivor.
Wachholz said she often heard stories of survival from her grandmother, who was just a teenager at the time of the tragedy.
The disaster claimed the lives of 844 people, including 22 entire families. When the ship rolled, it filled with water and trapped many people inside.
“They were able to stay afloat on piles of debris or whatever they could hold onto. And luckily, she knew how to swim,” Wachholz said.
So many Chicagoans were impacted by the event, including Peter Michael Hoffman, the Cook County Coroner at the time.
“I think it hit him very hard. He was a family man with five daughters of his own,” said Peter Hoffman Johnson, Junior, the then-coroner’s great-grandson.
Peter Hoffman Johnson Junior travels to Chicago on the Eastland’s anniversary to reflect and honor his great-grandfather’s work during such a difficult time.
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“I think his administration of the Eastland disaster was remarkable, he did a terrific service to Chicago.”
